Serving Rascals, Clumsy Disciples, and Physically and Mentally Ill Believers with the Unconditional Love of Jesus Christ
Author: Bryan Lowe
Studying God's Word is my joy. I want you to understand that there is nothing greater than a life given to Him. I'm an ordained pastor who lives in Alaska.
I need Him constantly. Just maybe that’s the backbone of true discipleship. We dare not think that discipleship, which is following Jesus Christ, can happen without any real intimacy to Him.
We’re called to love Him first.
Some of us struggle physically and mentally. We are the handicapped ones, and we know it–we understand our shortcomings and flaws. The purpose of this blog has been to encourage and comfort, that is the focus of brokenbelievers.com. What follows is the motto of this ministry:
“Serving Rascals, Clumsy Disciples, and Mentally Ill Believers with the Unconditional Love of Jesus Christ.”
Linda and I will emphasize this over and over, these posts are written by us three times a week. We want to encourage you in your struggle. I know you battle, and we want to serve you.
Both of us have struggled and found Jesus. I myself have had my lion’s share of raging battles, I have a paralyzed right arm and am also a brain tumor survivor. I’ve struggled with chronic depression and must take meds–these lay me at His feet. And I lay my issues at His.
At Jesus’ very core is a solid promise. I believe it’s who exactly who He is, the very core of His being, the very center of His character. These verses are how Jesus wants to be understood and known. And then He offers us an invitation:
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
Matthew 11:28-29, ESV
We are called to be with Jesus every day–maybe in each moment. I really do think that intimacy with Him can be the cure for all that disturbs us about ourselves. Now I’m not saying that our issues evaporate, but we begin to see that they can be conquered, and only if we draw close and are filled with the Holy Spirit daily.
I’m convinced that we’ll see significant breakthroughs as we sit at the feet of Jesus. The passage above (v. 3) describes a satanic attack that seduces us from a 100% pure devotion to Jesus. We read of Paul’s deep concern–apparently the Corinthians were under attack.
“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Revelation 2:4
“For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
List of Hotlines and 1-800 Phone Numbers and Websites
Christian and Secular
These numbers, hotlines or texts may or may not work. I’m constantly adjusting/adding to this resource. As far as we know, this is the U.S. only for phone numbers. Additionally, many of these have regular office hours, and some are not staffed at night. Also, use this resource with caution. Obviously, the online links work for everyone, everywhere.
(You may copy and distribute this as you see fit.)
This list isn’t complete yet. If you have a contact that isn’t here, please email me that information. I’m Bryan Lowe at slowe299@yahoo.com or brokenbelievers.com, or at alaskabibleteacher.com.
Mostly, these are organizations and ministries that are there when life gets challenging. Use these phone numbers wisely, I am not able to check each number. These numbers are to be used with some precaution as a result. They may change without notice. But it’s a start I think.
You’ll discover that some have different theology and beliefs. I added them with the hope you’ll sort things out on your own. You also may want to verify each number, and find out what you can comfortably use. I strongly suggest you do this prior to sharing it with others.
In general, these hotlines have three things in common:
1) they are available to call 24/7 in the USA, but the websites are not 2) they are 100% confidential 3) they are free
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, are in danger, or are feeling suicidal, call 911 immediately.
“Five Ways to Help with Coping AFTER a Crisis Situation.”
Recognize your own feelings about the situation and talk to others about your fears. Know that these feelings are a normal response to an abnormal situation.
Be willing to listen to family and friends who have been affected and encourage them to seek counseling if necessary.
Be patient with people; fuses are short when dealing with a crisis and others may be feeling as much stress as you.
Recognize normal crisis reactions, such as sleep disturbances and nightmares, withdrawal, reverting to childhood behaviors, and trouble focusing on work or school.
Take time with your children, spouse, life partner, friends, and co-workers to do something you enjoy.
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”
(Philippians 1:6, NLT)
This resource is subject to change at any given moment. You may copy this (in its entirety please) and distribute it freely.
“Loving Father God, my heart is filled upon rethinking the greatness of your love and the completeness of your plan. I want to please you, but how often my flesh folds under the pressure of temptation. I thank you that you know my frame, and you remember that I am but dust. And I thank you for the abundance of Grace and the gift of righteousness that you have made available to me through the cross of your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for receiving me back, my gracious Lord. Amen. ”
When my children do wrong I ache inside. As a father I so want to hear their confession and see their repentance. But I cannot imagine disowning them. Never, ever! How much more is our Heavenly Father ready to receive us back, and hold us close to his heart.
This profound love turns us back to Himself. The very fact you feel the Holy Spirit’s tug is evidence enough that you haven’t been permanently forsaken and ‘cast aside.’ You’ll need to take a step of faith however. Always remember— proximity to Jesus is always a good thing. Stay close, and watch the enemy flee. He will, but only if you make a stand Satan.
Become brutally real with yourself, but never despairingly.
Confess your sin to the real God who loves you unconditionally. Let Him fill you with His Spirit again. Sin is not the ultimate place or condition of the true believer in Jesus–his love has the incredible power to bust through all of our disobedience and rebellion. And he is the only one who can do it–you can’t.
66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.
John 6:66-68
Who else would take us in after all the evil we have done?
Jesus loves each one of us as if there were only one of us. Sink into that love, and have the assurance that He alone has the power to save us- We’re his; even when we’re rascals. And he has decided that we are now his friends. Isn’t that wild!
God is not against us because of our sin. He is with us against our sin. Let’s remember that.
Bryan Lowe
I’ve got another site for you–alaskabibleteacher.com.
“And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Mark 2:17
I am convinced that as “master strugglers,” who just happen to be believers, that there is a deep truth we must understand. In a nutshell, the terribly weak get sprinkled purposefully into our churches–they have a much needed ministry, a honest calling to become the ‘audio-visual’ (AV) department of our churches.
Remember “show-and-tell’ in grade school?
We display for all who can see, especially us, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be really mixed up, and really confused. But in contrast, He has become our everything, Jesus is now our all in all. As AV people, we show and declare the deep kindnesses of God. We stumble more than others, and we definitely display His grace.
We are meant to be seen and heard, because that is what the AV department does best.
But that is really not our natural tendency. We hate our many failures. But Jesus spoke of becoming a “candle on a lamp stand,” that gives light into the house. I suppose because of all our inconsistencies, this is often frightening–but this is our certain place in a dark, and very foolish world.
We’re now on display, whether we like it or not.
Because we belong to the AV department, we’re compelled to announce the solid mercy and kindness of God. Maybe in this short life, that is all we can really do. Fair enough. But still we hear that frightening call to become visible for Him, and to point to His fantastic glory. Jesus deserves this, and it seems He uses the worst He can find.
It seems we know far more about sin than we do about holiness.
We may become quite intimidated by this ‘special ministry.’ It seems we know far more about sin than we do about holiness. Quite a few of us are expert sinners. Some of us have our Ph.D in sin and failure. We have taken training in failure, and are quite proficient in it.
“This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all.”
1 Timothy 1:15, NLT
Our sins and weaknesses, depressions and sicknesses, have become even more evident over time. We are the ones who walk with a definite limp. We will falter, and we stumble. But we continue to turn to Jesus–over and over. And in this persistent action, others will see the immense mercy that is poured out on rascals such as us. We will be those AV people.
As messed up as we are we keep coming repeatedly, over and over and over. We keep hanging on, and keep finding forgiveness and grace.
We dare not let go.
“Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Broken Believers 